Beaker Button Blog

Some of you will know that I've always wanted my own sheep, which I can produce a yarn from to sell in the shop. Unfortunately I'm mildly allergic to lanolin, which makes owning sheep tricky as you can imagine. However, I had to great fortune to get to know Elizabeth of Warrenfield Farm, which is just down the road from Beaker Button, in the Clatfords. Elizabeth has a delightful flock of Hampshire Down sheep and I've been using her fleece for years to teach spinning with. It's soft, springy and wonderful to work with. This year we've gone into partnership to produce Beaker Button Warrenfield Sock yarn. It's going to be a soft and springy sock yarn in 100g skeins spun at the Natural Fibre Co. in Launceston. Cornwall. I was lucky enough to be given a tour of the factory on Monday when we delivered the fleece so I thought I'd share some of the photos with you. For those of you who are wondering part 2 is going to be all about dyeing the skeins when they'r...

The last few weeks have been a mad whirl of dyeing skeins of yarn for Wonderwool, which we're going to this weekend.  I've been telling people for years that my favourite colour is purple, so I was a little surprised at how much green dye I was getting through.  It seems I have a penchant for green, as well as purples.  My favourite though, was the rainbow gradient I dyed for the new Bifrost Kit I've designed.  A few photos below for your viewing pleasure.  I'll be running some dyeing experience days in the summer.  Get in touch if you fancy having a go at dyeing your own yarn. This week's letter is below.  See here for more detailed instructions. I'll be shattered next week after the show so next weeks offering may be a day or to late. dyeing sock blanks for gradient yarn gradient in a little scrummy ball Bifrost Necklace Beaker Button Sparkle on the shop shelves autumn colours drying yarn for Eve bracelet about t...